Oshkosh Tool Library - October Newsletter

[Oshkosh Tool Library]

Hello Oshkosh Tool Library Members, Organizers, and Community,

This email will review our first open month’s progress and share what’s coming up in October. 

We opened our doors on September 3rd, 2025 and have been open Wednesdays 6-9pm and Saturdays and Sundays 10am-2pm since. Before digging into the details, thank you all for your interest, contributions, and future involvement. Only as a community will we achieve our mission to provide equitable access to tools, encourage creation and repair, and foster community empowerment with education and cooperation.

Metric	End of August 2025	End of September 2025
# of tools in catalog	118	176
# of members	7	13
# of loans per month	0	3
Social media followers	438	599

Community engagement in September:

• Many community members stopped by the tool library to donate tools and some were borrowed for projects. We have a backlog of over 100 tools that will be added to our inventory every day we’re open. 

• A brief class/tutoring session on 3D modelling was completed and two 3D printers were donated for community use. 

• Oshkosh Rotary Southwest has volunteered to help us procure some items on our wishlist including a projector, whiteboards, and workbenches for our classroom.

• Tool library tools were used to repair a dremel tool for a community business.

• Tool library organizers volunteered at Repair Cafe Oshkosh on September 6th at the Downtown YMCA

We also track and publicize our Financial Records available on our website oshkoshtoollibrary.neocities. 

Our group of organizers are happy to see some good initial benefit to our community. Before opening, we secured an organizing force, space, initial funding, and tools. In September, we piloted our operations and continued to improve the space. Now, going into October, we’re focusing on inviting the public and other non-profits to engage with the tools. We plan to achieve this by offering skill building workshops and finding opportunities to collaborate with other community organizations. 

October Events are below. We also welcome other community minded groups and individuals to volunteer to lead workshops, use the space for meetings, and/or drop in with projects and ideas. Consider spending some time in service at the tool library by signing up here.

October Events at the tool library:

• Sunday the 5^th 2-3:30PM Organizer Meeting (Open to the public)

• Saturday the 11^th 11AM-1PM Intro to Programming (Bring your own laptop)

• Sunday the 12^th 12:30-1:30PM Vermiculture (Worm composting for healthy soils)

• Saturday the 25^th 11AM-1PM Intro to 3D Printing

Best Regards,

Oshkosh Tool Library Organizers

oshkoshtoollibrary.neocities.org